Page 23 of Guard

Rixx’s heart hammered so wildly he was sure it was going to burst from his chest. He had never had a problem seducing females before, but there was something about Myrria that made him not want to rush things. Maybe it was the fact that he’d grown fond of her. Maybe it was because he was fond of her daughter. Maybe it was because he feared hurting both of them when he left because there was no way he could remain on Kurril with them, even if they asked. He was a hunted Dothvek who still needed to leave the planet as soon as possible, which meant leaving Myrria.

“I cannot stay with you,” he finally said, his words hoarse. “Kurril is not safe for me, but I do not want to be like your husband. I do not want to abandon you.”

Myrria reached out a hand and brushed her fingertips down the side of one cheek. “You could never be like him.”

Her fingertips scorched his skin, her desire pulsing into him and sending heat arrowing straight to his cock. Rixx bit back a groan as he fought to control himself. He was not a beast who was powerless over his hunger, but he was also not immune to the power of their connection. His head swam as need stormed through him hot and fast, as much of it hers as it was his.

Impossible, he thought, even as he knew it was not. Not if they were mind mates. His Dothvek brothers had formed mind mate bonds with their human females. But how could his true mate be a claimed woman?

Because she is not claimed. She is yours. She was always meant to be yours.

Rixx groaned and rolled his head back as the last shreds of self-control snapped like the thinnest threads. “Do not ask for something you do not want. I no longer have the strength to resist you. Not when I know that you are mine.”

“I don’t want you to resist me, Rixx.” Her whispered words danced across his skin like silk. “I am yours. I’ve been yours since the moment I saw you in that doorway.’

He raked a hand through her hair, tipping her head so her gaze was on his, her dark eyes sparking with fire. “And I have wanted you since the second I opened my eyes in your bed. I have wanted you in this bed with me every night, but I was sure it would never happen. I was sure I could never have you.”

Her eyes fluttered and the pulse on there side of her neck throbbed beneath the hand that cupped the back of her head. “You already have more of me than you know.”

“I want all of you.” He pulled her face close to his, his gaze going to the curve of her lips.

And I want you inside me.

Her words echoed in his head, jolting him with desire so potent he crushed his mouth to hers. Her wish was his command.

Chapter

Twenty-Three

His kiss caught her by surprise, but it only took her moments to sink into it. She could feel his need coursing through her, stoking her blood just as surely as she felt his lips moving urgently against hers, soft but so dominant. He’d told her he was empathic, but how was it possible that she could feel him?

Rixx parted her lips with a dominant swipe of his tongue, tangling it with hers. Clutching the back of her head, he pulled her in deeper, exploring her mouth with an intense hunger. His large hands caressed her back, skimming the fabric of her nightgown as he pulled her to him. Her heart thundered, and she instinctively arched into him, her hard nipples straining against the silky fabric and brushing his bare chest.

Suddenly, the gown that had seemed too daring, too sexy was nothing but a hinderance. She wanted nothing between them. She wanted nothing keeping her from being pressed skin to skin with him.

As if he’d heard her—and maybe he had—Rixx slid the thin straps of her nightgown down her shoulders. He broke their kiss, tearing his mouth from hers and pinning her with a ferocious gaze.

Myrria didn’t wait for a question. She nodded as her breath came out in short bursts. “Take it off me.”

A growl rumbled from his chest before he set his mouth on her again, kissing his way down her neck and across her collarbone. Myrria dropped her head back as the Dothvek tugged the straps of her gown off her shoulders and down her arms so that her breasts were exposed, and her arms were pinned to her sides.

Even though she was partially immobilized and her breasts fully exposed to Rixx, there was no part of Myrria that felt trapped. She wanted this. She wanted to give herself to him. She wanted him to touch every inch of her, lick every bit of bare skin, fill her until she didn’t know where she ended and he began.

It had been so long since she’d allowed herself to need, to crave, to desire that she could not stop herself from wanting it all. Myrria had barely felt anything for such a long time that she gasped as the emotions slammed into her like relentless waves.

When she arched her back higher, the peaks of her nipples dusky in the faint light, Rixx cupped one full breast in his hand and lifted it to his mouth. Myrria’s eyes rolled back in her head as he sucked the nipple hard, sending heat straight to her core. He released one breast and moved his hand and mouth to the other, suckling it as her pussy clenched.

“I could lick these all night,” he husked when he pulled away, his gaze riveted to her breasts.

“Notallnight,” she whispered.

A deep laugh escaped his lips. “No? You have something else you would prefer me to do?”

Myrria had never been one to be bold or demand what she wanted. She had learned to accept what she got and be happy with it, but that was because she’d known there was nothing else she truly desired—until now. Until Rixx.

The Dothvek’s arrival, her reckless decision to save him and hide him, his defense of her, the way he’d almost killed a man to protect her. All of that had shattered her fear, obliterated her cautious nature, and released something primal within her. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who was a barbarian.

“I…I..want you to do everything,” she said.

---